Craniale Osteologie der Tayassuidae

Native to the American double continent, the New World pigs or peccaries (Tayassuidae), as representatives of the porcine species, bear a strong phenotypic resemblance to the Old World pigs native to Eurasia and Africa, but carry some anatomical characteristics of a ruminant. The primary objective of this work represented the presentation of the previously unavailable descriptive morphology of the cranial skeleton of Tayassuidae. Furthermore, based on the remarkable evidence of multiple conspicuous homologies, a possible phylogenetic intermediate position of the peccaries within the order of the paarzeher (Artiodactyla) was determined based on the anatomical description and osteometric documentation of the cranial skeleton of 29 New World pigs of the species Collared Peccary (Tayassu tajacu) and the comparison with one representative each of the Old World pigs and the Wie.